Crossroads
Crossroads is a 2002 comedy-drama road film directed by Tamra Davis and starring American recording artist Britney Spears, Zoe Saldana and Taryn Manning. Written by Shonda Rhimes, the film tells the coming of age story of Lucy (Spears) and her childhood best friends Kit (Saldana) and Mimi (Manning) as they take a cross-country road trip, finding themselves and their friendship in the process. The film also stars Dan Aykroyd as Lucy's father, Kim Cattrall as Lucy's mother, and Anson Mount as Ben. The film was rated PG-13 in the United States due to sexual content and brief teen drinking. The script for the film was developed specifically for the singer by herself and her team. Filming began in March 2001, taking place in Spears' home state, Louisiana, as well as Los Angeles, California. Crossroads received generally unfavorable reviews from contemporary critics, who considered it a "dull road trip" film. The film received a total of twelve award nominations. It won two, however, for Worst Actress and Worst Original Song at the 23rd Golden Raspberry Awards. Despite being panned by critics, Crossroads grossed $5.2 million on its opening day, debuting at number two on the Box Office, just behind John Q. Plot Three friends (Lucy, Kit and Mimi) get together and bury a box making a pact to open it at midnight at their high school graduation. By the time the girls get to high school, things change. One is Little Miss Perfect, one is an engaged prom queen, and the other is a pregnant outcast. The night of graduation, they open the box and start talking again. The objects they left inside remind them of the dreams they had as children; Mimi wanted to travel to California, Lucy wanted to see her mother again, and Kit wanted to get married. Mimi brings up the topic of going to Los Angeles for a record contract audition. They all decide to go together; Lucy to visit her mom (Kim Cattrall) in Arizona and Kit to visit her fiancee in Los Angeles, and they set out on the road with little money in a yellow 1969 Buick Skylark convertible with a guy named Ben. Shortly into their journey, the car breaks down. They realise that they don't have enough money between them for the journey - or the repair costs. Mimi suggests that she sing karaoke at a local bar, where good singers are tipped well. However, when the song starts Mimi develops stage fright and can't sing, so Lucy takes her place. She quickly becomes a hit with the crowd. They make enough money to fix the car and continue on their way. Kit had told the others she heard a rumour that Ben had recently been released from jail, having 'killed a guy'. After spending most of the journey feeling uneasy around him, they confront him. Ben reveals that he was in jail - for driving his step-sister across state borders without parental consent, after his father was abusing her. Having established that Ben is not the homocidal maniac they imagined him to be, Lucy and Ben grow closer. The girls talk properly to each other for the first time since they were kids. Lucy reveals that her mother abandoned her and her father when she was three. Kit, who was overweight as a child, has an overbearing mother who sent her to fat camp but now cannot stand that her daughter is more beautiful than her. Mimi reveals that the baby's father was not her boyfriend, but a guy who raped her after she got drunk at a party. Lucy meets her mother in Tucson, but her mother is remarried, with two sons. She reveals to Lucy that she never wanted to have her, and that she was a mistake. Distraught, Lucy rejoins the others and carries on to Los Angeles. When they arrive, Kit brings Mimi along to surprise her fiancee, Dylan. However, Dylan has another girl in his apartment. Already upset, Kit suddenly realises that it was Dylan who raped Mimi and got her pregnant, and she punches him. Scared, Mimi falls down the stairs and consequently loses her baby. While alone in the hotel, Lucy has sex with Ben for the first time. Lucy and Ben fall in love, and against her father's wishes, she stays in Los Angeles and goes to the audition. Cast *Britney Spears as Lucy Wagner *Zoë Saldana as Kit *Taryn Manning as Mimi *Anson Mount as Ben *Dan Aykroyd as Pete Wagner *Kim Cattrall as Caroline Wagner *Justin Long as Henry *Jamie Lynn Spears as young Lucy Wagner Productions The script for Crossroads was developed specifically for Britney Spears by herself and her team.[2] "I talked to Rhimes and told her what I wanted the movie to be about and she elaborated on it," Spears said. "It was my little project. When you do a movie, I think you have to be really passionate about it. I was having a lot of offers, but this is something my heart was into."[3] In an interview with MTV, the singer considered Crossroads as "a teen movie, but it's talking about real issues that teenagers deal with all the time. One of the girls has an eating disorder. One of the girls was date-raped ... The whole movie is about this journey that the three of us best friends take, finding ourselves and what we want out of life and getting our friendship back. Friends are all you have at the end of the day. When your boyfriend breaks up with you, who do you call? Your girlfriend. I just love that message."[4] Justin Long, who plays one of Lucy's best friends from high school, said, "It's like a road trip buddy movie for girls."[5] Filming for the movie began in March 2001. Scenes set in the characters' hometown were filmed near Spears' own hometown of Kentwood, Louisiana in Baton Rouge, New Orleans and Hammond, according to the Louisiana Film and Video Commission.[6] The movie also filmed in Los Angeles, California.[5] The film had working titles of What Are Friends For and Not a Girl (after Spears' song "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman"). Reception Critical response Crossroads holds a score of 27 out of 100 (indicating "generally unfavorable reviews") based on 31 critical reviews, according to the music review aggregator Metacritic.[9] Robert K. Elder of Chicago Tribune said "Spears delivers a performance with the same sincerity she invests into a Pepsi commercial, only this film contains twice the sugary calories", while New York Daily News writer Elizabeth Weitzma noted, "Here's what Crossroads does not have: Cohesive direction from Tamra Davis, intelligent dialogue, a comprehensible plot".[9] Maitland McDonagh of TV Guide commented that "the film's mealy-mouthed messages about feminine empowerment will almost certainly fall on deaf ears, since even 11-year-olds know Spears's power resides largely in her taut torso".[9] Claudia Puig of USA Today considered it "less a movie than a mind-numbingly dull road trip", while The Washington Post reporter Ann Hornaday said, "not a music video, not yet a movie, but more like an extended-play advertisement for the Product that is Britney".[9] Jane Dark of Village Voice compared Crossroads to Mariah Carey's Glitter, saying, "you spend a lot of time wondering, 'Better or worse than Glitter?' You think if the projectionist cranked the volume a little you could actually sort of get into this".[9] John Anderson of Los Angeles Times commented "Spears acquits herself as well as anyone might, in a movie as contrived and lazy as this one".[9] Chris Kaltenbach of Baltimore Sun said , "go see Crossroads if you want to hear Britney sing or see her wear next-to-nothing. But otherwise, avoid this train wreck at all costs".[9] Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly, however, gave the movie a positive review, commenting Crossroads "not only makes excellent use of the singer's sweetly coltish acting abilities, but it also promotes a standardized set of sturdy values with none of Mariah Carey's desperate Glitter, or any of Mandy Moore's gummy pap in A Walk to Remember".[9] Bret Fetzer of Amazon.com also gave a positive review, noting that the movie "could have been trite schmaltz, but the script has some grit and the direction is fresh and relaxed--and, most significantly, Spears is far more sympathetic and engaging than you might expect".[10] Box office Crossroads was released in 2,380 theaters on February 15, 2002 and grossed $5.2 million on its opening day.[11] The Box Office Mojo reported that "Crossroads" open at number 2 on the Box Office with an estimate of $14,527,187, just behind John Q's $20,275,194 opening weekend.[12] By the second week the film dropped a 52% on tickets sales ranking at number 5 on the box office, according to Yahoo! Movies the decrease was due to lack of promotion.[13] On its third week the film dropped a 49% of ticket sales, and ranked at number 9 on the box office charts with $4.1 million dollars. On its fourth week Crossroads failed to chart in the top ten, but it grossed $2.4 million with a 39% drop. Ultimately Crossroads grossed $37,191,304 in the United States, with 60.8% of the worldwide box office total.[1] Internationally, the film grossed $23,949,726 for a total of $61,141,030 worldwide.[1] Awards Spears received two nominations at the 2002 MTV Movie Awards with Crossroads, for Best Breakthrough Performance and Best Dressed. The singer was also nominated at the 2002 Teen Choice Awards for Best Actress Comedy/Drama, and with Anson Mount for Best On-Screen Couple. On the 23rd Golden Raspberry Awards in 2003, Crossroads received eight nominations, and won two, for Worst Actress with Spears, and Worst Original Song with "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman" (2001). Soundtrack Background Spears had initially recorded "Overprotected" and "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman" for Crossroads; the songs were later included on the singer's third studio album, Britney (2001).[4] Crossroads featured 22 songs on its soundtrack.[14] However, the soundtrack album features six tracks by Spears, Mystikal, Matthew Sweet, Jars of Clay and Bowling for Soup.[15] Music from the Major Motion Picture Crossroads was released by Zomba Records on February 2, 2002,[16] and was produced by Rodney Jerkins, The Neptunes, Fred Maher, Matthew Sweet, Dennis Herring, Jaret Reddick, Max Martin, and Rami. "Overprotected" was remixed by JS16 for the soundtrack album. Track listing Credits and personnel *Performers – Britney Spears, Mystikal, Matthew Sweet, Jars of Clay, Bowling for Soup *Songwriters – Alan Merrill, Jake Hooker, Michael Tyler, Pharrell Williams, Chad Hugo, Matthew Sweet, Jars of Clay, Jaret Reddick, Max Martin, Rami *Producers – Rodney Jerkins, The Neptunes, Fred Maher, Matthew Sweet, Dennis Herring, Jaret Reddick, Max Martin, Rami *Remixer – JS16 *Audio mastering – Tom Coyne External links *[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0275022/ Crossroads] at the Internet Movie Database *[http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=crossroads.htm Crossroads] at Box Office Mojo *[http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1112549/ Crossroads] at Rotten Tomatoes